School on a high

NEIL DUDDY

FINALLY FINISHED: Dr Stuart Middleton says he’s glad the school has opened but there’s a lot of hard work still to be done.

NEIL DUDDY

NEW TECHNOLOGY: Head teacher Michelle Hards says the best thing about the school is its flexibility – and the open plan classrooms reflect this.

NEIL DUDDY

UNDER COVER: Tertiary high school students enjoy the deck area between two rows of classrooms.

NEIL DUDDY

STUDENT SPACE: The common room is a hit with students – it’s a place to chill out, use computers and have some free toast at any time of the day.

Relevant offers

IT'S BEEN a long journey but New Zealand's first tertiary high school is finally finished.

Manukau Institute of Technology's school of secondary-tertiary studies was officially opened by Education Minister Anne Tolley and Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce on Friday.

The school is a collaboration between MIT and several Counties Manukau secondary schools.

The four-year course will take students who aren't achieving at school and put them into two streams.

One will help them achieve their National Certificate of Educational Achievement and in the other they'll work towards a two-year technical and vocational qualification in early childhood education, health and pre-nursing, business, sports and recreation, trades, hospitality or visual arts.

They'll still be enrolled at their original high school and can return for cultural or sports activities.

All students are fully funded to attend for four years, meaning they can finish their education there with a diploma or pre-degree course – and without a student loan.

The school is the brainchild of MIT director of external relations Dr Stuart Middleton who worked extensively on the project before it was approved by the Ministry of Education last year.

He says it's fantastic to finally have the opening but says "the real work is just starting".

That work is making sure the students finish school and get their qualifications, he says.

"The really nice day will be their graduation in 2013."

He estimates 100 people have been working on the school – "It's taken some team effort".

Students had been attending the school since it opened in February in classrooms on MIT's main campus.

But bright orange and green open-plan classrooms were trucked down from Albany Senior High School for the school's permanent home on the former Bairds Intermediate School site.

Unlike most schools the classrooms form a modular shape with two lines of buildings and a covered deck area in between.

There's also a large common room for the students with a kitchen and free breakfast food.

The teachers will act as academic mentors and take responsibility for small groups of students to ensure they keep achieving.

The school has opened with a roll of 45 and there will be a gradual intake of students at each year level until it reaches its capacity of 300 students.

- © Fairfax NZ News